Shoulder to the wheel

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When we started this recovery, things looked very bleak and the mountain seemed insurmountable. But we are most of the way to the top by now. It is not futile and hopeless as it had seemed back then. We are making very good progress. Feel free to look at the charts I have provided. They show the improved results from rock bottom about five years ago.

Real estate is often mired in emotional baggage and people oversell and underappreciate the effect it has on our lives. When it is all said and done, it is a business transaction to buy or sell a home. Yet many people put human body parts into the process as if an external limb or internal organ were a part of the contract.

Have you felt, or heard, the sentiment that a big old house needing lots of work is breaking your back? Or that property taxes are crippling someone? I can put my finger on the perfect listing for you (out of at least 1500 units out there) but you have to feel it in your heart. And what about your gut reaction to a home you are seeing for the first time? Isn’t that usually the most honest reaction?

Daily I am rewarded by love and appreciation from customers and fellow professionals. I cannot set foot in my office without someone asking me questions, taking my willingness to share and teach for a fact. Almost as often, I am quitting someone’s drama and walking away from the prospect that knows way too much to ever hear what my reason and lengthy experience brings to the table.

At 63, do I have the luxury of waiting for each person I work with to learn the hard lessons for themselves, if they won’t listen to what I have to say? A wise person can select their dinner companions and best friends, but also those they do business with. At 63, I have earned the right. If I was only asking questions, some might tire of me. If I am providing answers and there are no takers, maybe its time to move on to a different career.

Thank you all for making this the top-ranked real estate blog for the Santa Fe real estate market. I have some plans for it next year; the same timely and accurate information presented in a new format (or new wine skins?). We will see you on the other side of the holidays when I can report the local ski conditions and the number of pounds I gained by enjoying too many holiday treats. Hope you have a little more willpower than I do…     Now where is that number for Jenny Craig?

 

Posted in Posts & Updates, Santa Fe area real estate and tagged , , , , .

The writer is a 68 year-old young man engaged as an active REALTOR (associate broker) with Keller Williams, in real estate sales and management in the Santa Fe NM market area. My career has been in and around the real estate industry for more than 35 years, ranging from mortgage lending (interim, commercial, residential); residential property management and leasing; shopping center development and leasing; real estate sales; sales training; title insurance as an executive and an escrow officer; various management positions; consulting and other related activities. That plus a bunch of banking experience including our family-owned Bank of Santa Fe in the 1980s. Where has the time gone?
My background means you have my working knowledge of the entire transaction process at your disposal. That comes with honesty and no bullshit.